The legendary copywriter Gary Halbert believes his ‘personal ad’ was one of the best ads he ever wrote.
Even Gary Bencivenga told Gary that the personal ad was the best ad he had ever read.
The ad was about Gary Halbert looking for a sexy, hot woman with a good sense of humor.
Pre-head and headline of this ad is…
Are you more than just another pretty face?
Generous, Creative Businessman
Wants To Find A Hot, Sexy Woman
With A Good Sense Of Humor
This ad talks about who Gary is, his hobbies, his businesses, why he is looking for a woman.
What he would be sharing with such a woman. What are the 7 things he isn’t looking for in a woman. His experience with other women in the past. His height, looks, marital status.
Basically, in this ad, Gary talks about almost everything in an honest manner.
And then Gary asks his readers to guess what made this ad really successful.
Many guessed it wrong, a few guessed closer to the real reason and very few guessed it 100% correct.
So, what made that ad so great even Gary Bencivenga marked it the best ad he’d ever read.
It is SPECIFICITY.
In Gary’s words…
“when I described myself, I did so specifically, very specifically. Matter of fact, I described myself so well, the women I met as a result of my ad were able to recognize me immediately (even though they had not seen a physical picture of me).”
Many people fake their appearance and their personality especially on the internet, Gary says.
But he didn’t. He described everything in 100% truth.
He even says, many of his ads were successful because of specificity backed with proof.
Gary further adds that he would like to add ‘S’ to the famous copywriting formula AIDA. Because other than attention, interest, desire and action, the most important thing is specificity.
Why? Because there are 3 reasons people don’t buy from you. According to Gary.
- They don’t want what you are selling.
- They can’t afford what you are selling.
- They don’t believe you.
The first two reasons can’t be easily fixed. But the third reason is what you must fix.
And one of the many ways to inject belief is SPECIFICITY backed by proof. Means honesty.
Alright, that’s what I learned from reading Gary Halbert newsletter today.
Hope you guys got some value.
Thank you for your time and attention!